Author: Brett Venter

Ever wondered what life would be like with seven fingers on one hand? Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology certainly have and they’ve come up with a design for adding two extra fingers to humans that are able to assist in tasks without really needing to be programmed. Instead, they function in the same way that the human hand does, by aligning according to your hand’s movement. The robotic augmentation, which is demonstrated in the video below, places an oversized ‘finger’ on either side of the user’s hand, with the control mechanism and the fingers themselves being mounted on the…

If we were going to be totally honest we’d have to admit that the wearables trend, as scattershot as it is, is one that we’re enjoying. People are putting things into wristbands that we would never have even considered, though fitness seems to be the main focus of everyone from FitBit to Samsung to Google at this point. An IndieGoGo campaign is the subject of something a bit different however. That would be Hicon, a new wearable that wants to save users time spend checking their phones by putting all of their social network interactions on their wrists. The wearable…

It looks as though WeChat is testing the waters in China for using their software platform to form the basis of several newly-released wearables in the country. This could be the precursor for WeChat, through their parent company TenCent, taking on more challenges related to health and fitness sharing. A series of wearables have launched for sale online in China that have WeChat’s API integrated, an event that CNET reports is a precursor to the company attempting to become the main wearable operating system on China. WeChat is apparently also asking hardware partners to share health info with their software platform,…

Apple’s upcoming iPhone 6 has got the rumour-mill churning again – not that it ever stops when it comes to Cupertino. A series of apparent leaks concerning the tight-lipped company’s new device claims to have information on the fingerprint sensor that will feature in the handset that we’ll see later this year, as well as details on the battery and camera that the iPhone 6 will be packing. The fingerprint sensor and battery details come by way of Nowhereelse.fr, though there seem to be negligible changes to the apparent Touch ID sensor update. The images that have leaked show only…

There are lot of memories of Doom floating around the Stuff offices and they’re not all pleasant ones. The older hands were around when the first Doom made its appearance on DOS computers, others jumped on board with the fright-fest that was Doom 3. It’s one of those games that refined and defined gaming. Now, after an extended wait, there is a new Doom on the way called, simply enough, Doom. There’s no sequel number or subtitle, suggesting a reboot of sorts. Revealed at QuakeCon 2014, id Software will be launching the new Doom on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox…

Advertising is going to be getting a lot more interactive on Facebook, if recent tests are any indication. Facebook at present is trialling a new Buy button that will allow Facebook users to purchase items online from within the social network, all without actually leaving your timeline. The test is limited to a small set of businesses and is localised to the States for now but it’s a good indication of the company’s future plans when it comes to revenue generation on the social network. If it works, and Facebook is using this test to gather information on the process,…

http://vimeo.com/100785455 Futurama, the science fiction comedy show from the creator of The Simpsons, is one of the more beloved TV series to ever air. It’s gone through one cancellation, several feature films and then a season renewal before finally being cancelled again but there’s a lot of love for the antics of Philip J. Fry, the Professor, Bender, Leela and the rest of the Planet Express crew. (Why not Zoidberg?) The love seems to be especially strong in the work being done by one Alexy Zakgarow, who has embarked on a solo quest to render the year 3000 in 3D…

Stuff has something fairly new on the go. So new, in fact, that you may have missed it. Allow us to introduce you to StuffCentral, an occurrence on Gareth Cliff’s CliffCentral that will feature Stuff Magazine’s Toby Shapshak (and maybe a few of the more hidden team members) talking about all things tech, gaming and generally digital. The first broadcast took place yesterday so you might have missed it taking place but that’s okay. We’ve got the podcast of the first edition of StuffCentral here so you catch up on what was discussed. Look out for more in future. If…

The former dictator of Panama, Manuel Noreiga, has sued Activision for the company’s portrayal of him in 2012’s Call of Duty: Black Ops II. Noriega was dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989, during the time frame in which Black Ops II was set, and was seen in Activision’s title during a mission that had players chasing down the dictator in Panama. The suit alleges that “Plaintiff was portrayed as an antagonist and portrayed as the culprit of numerous fictional heinous crimes, creating the false impression that defendants are authorized to use plaintiff’s image and likeness. This caused plaintiffs to…

Samsung has apparently had a line of headphones in the works for some time and they’ve unveiled the products that will be going on sale in the States later on today. The product lineup, dubbed Level, consists of in-ear and over-ear headphones as well as Bluetooth speakers and the offerings are being compared to Beats devices, for obvious reasons. The timing might seem a bit fishy though, seeing as how Apple recently bought up Beats but that’s competition for you. Engadget reports that the Level lineup was first heard of just prior to rumours of Apple’s purchase first hitting online…